President Donald Trump has informed his Cabinet and inner circle that Elon Musk will be stepping back from his high-profile government role in the coming weeks. The Tesla and SpaceX boss will soon be returning to the business world, Politico reported. Revelations about the shock move rattled the stock market and stunned Washington.

Musk’s designation as a special government employee meant he was scheduled to step down in May, but he is now leaving early in a cloud of controversy. It represents an apparent sea change in Trump’s relationship with Musk from last month when White House sources were suggesting that the Tesla boss was ‘here to stay.’ Trump’s press secretary Karoline Leavitt immediately poured cold water on claims of a rift, declaring that Politico’s ‘scoop is garbage.’

Leavitt added: ‘Elon Musk and President Trump have both *publicly* stated that Elon will depart from public service as a special government employee when his incredible work at DOGE is complete.’ Within the White House, Musk has become a controversial figure due to his slash and burn style of cutting down the federal government. He also just sank $20 million into Wisconsin ‘s Supreme Court race only to have his Republican candidate lose.

And stock in Tesla has dropped sharply with sales down and its car lots being set on fire. But the report Musk is going back to his business roots sent the company’s shares rocketing again. Trump empowered him to bring that power and success to the federal government. The decision caused immediate controversy leading to questions as to whether Musk, whose Space X company has billions in government contracts, had a conflict of interest.

Additionally, Musk’s work to cut the size of the federal government has resulted in mass firings and lawsuits against the Trump administration. He’s also proven unpredictability. In all, Musk began to be seen as a political liability. The Democratic candidate in Wisconsin won, in part, by shaping the race as ‘The People vs. Elon Musk.’

Publicly Trump has supported Musk, keeping him close and visible. Musk has been with him in the Oval Office, walked the path from the White House to Marine One, and gotten rides on Air Force One. The president even turned the South Lawn of the White House into a Tesla show room after the company stock sank. Trump wrote Musk a personal check for one of the electric cars. But privately Trump has told his Cabinet that they are in charge of each of their departments, not Musk. Musk was in that Cabinet meeting when Trump made the announcement.

And there were mutterings of tension with Chief of Staff Susie Wiles. Musk was reported to not follow the White House chain of command, which would require him to keep Wiles in the loop more. And his unexpected comments and commentary on X – including sharing unvetted and uncoordinated plans to gut federal agencies – led to a PR crisis for the administration. Also not helping was a salute he gave that many compared to the Nazi salute and the drama around his family.

Musk is designated as a ‘special government employee,’ which has a 130-day time limit. Many were worried Trump would find a way around that restriction. The designation also exempts Musk from some ethics and conflict-of-interest rules. The 130-day period is expected to expire in late May or early June. And it appears the president is ready to let go of the man who spent $200 million to get him elected. But many don’t expect Musk to entirely disappear.

One aide told Politico that anyone who thinks Musk is going to disappear entirely from Trump’s orbit is ‘fooling themselves.’ The Tesla founder will likely still have regular access to Trump and an open invitation to the Oval Office. And he’s likely to still hang out a Mar-a-Lago, where he and Trump frequently dine together. Musk has cemented himself as one of the most powerful figures in the Republican Party, using his vast financial resources to make himself a force to be reckon with.

But Democrats are expected to use him as a boogeyman – much as the Republicans did to Nancy Pelosi – in the upcoming midterm election where control of Congress is at stake. A recent NBC News poll found a majority of voters nationwide (51%) hold a negative view of Musk, while 39% viewed him positively. Musk will also have to deal with the fallout of Trump’s decisions when he gets back to the business world. Tesla will be subject to Trump’s automotive tariffs as its key suppliers are in Mexico and China.

‘Important to note that Tesla is NOT unscathed here,’ Musk wrote on social media last week of the tariffs. ‘The cost impact is not trivial.’ Trump’s 25 percent tariff is set to go into effect on April 2 as part of the president’s broader trade war. Meanwhile, Tesla’s global vehicle deliveries fell 13% in the first quarter from a year ago, in what investors saw as a sign of backlash against Musk’s government work.

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